Kids with Cameras

Posted by Lisa Prins on July 12, 2019

Have you ever given your child a camera to play with? Like a real camera? We recently discovered our old point and shoot digital camera and J is enthralled with it. The past few weeks he has been snapping photos left and right. At first, lots of the ground, but now he is getting much better and actually taking some really good photos.

I bring this up because there are so many opportunities for learning here. These are a few of my favorite:

Focus on the Details: Photography is a great opportunity to focus on the details. J has been learning how to zoom in, get closer to his subject. He also has learned that he needs to see those details the screen for them to appear in the photo.

S-L-O-W Down: For an energetic child, like my own, slowing down is something that is very difficult to do. Spending more than two seconds on something, is a challenge. If you have ever tried to take a photo while moving, you know what happens. Even the slightest movement can make your whole photo blurry. J has learned that he has to stop and hold the camera very steady to get a crisp, clear photo.

Recollection: How many times have you asked your child what they did today and they say, "nothing" or forget? Since he has been snapping photos all day, he can then go back and look at his photos to jog his memory, giving them language tool. Additionally, the level of details improves drastically when they have a visual to remind them of what they did or learned that day.

Ideas for using a camera with a child:

Document the day

Taking candid shots of your day-to-day life

Encourage child to critique their photos. Delete ones that are their least favorite and determine which techniques worked well.

Make a photo book online

Print a collage of top photos

Go on a photo scavenger hunt (photograph a bird, a neighbor with permission, a flower, the sunset, etc.)

Discuss photographer etiquette such as if you are taking a photo of another person, the photographer should as permission before taking photo, no cameras when changing cloths/nude, no cameras in bathrooms, no flash in baby's face, etc.).

Teaching how to care for their camera (put in case, how to charge battery, how to upload photos to computer, etc.)

Have you given your child a camera before? How did it go? Comment below!